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Kirkwall
} |name = Kirkwall |icon = Ico_World_Map.png |image = Kirkwall concept art 2.jpg |location = Free Marches |px = 290px |type =City-State |appearances = Dragon Age II }} Kirkwall (also known as The City of Chains) is a coastal city and a major population center located in the Free Marches. It is on the southern edge of the Vimmark Mountains, east of the Planasene Forest, and north across the Waking Sea from Ferelden. Hawke is known to become the Champion of Kirkwall. Background Any ship approaching Kirkwall will first see the cliffs – the "wall" that the city is named for – from many miles off. This sheer cliff is made of the same black stone that the city was built on, a pantheon of vile guardians representing the Old Gods carved into its face. A channel has been carved into this cliff, allowing ships to sail through a dark corridor with sheer walls hundreds of feet high into the city's interior. Flanking either side of this channel are the "twins of Kirkwall", two massive bronze statues that are present for more than show: the city sits next to the narrowest point of the Waking Sea, and a massive chain net can be erected between the statues and the lighthouse on the nearest outcropping of rock that marks the edge of the narrow navigable lane. This stranglehold on sea traffic is jealously guarded by the ever-changing rulers of the city for the wealth of tolls, taxes and extortions it has allowed; the transitory politics of Kirkwall are as brutal and treacherous as the sea currents below. The city is wealthy from its position on the Waking Sea but there are still many decrepit areas. Much of the destruction caused when the Tevinters fell has never and can never be repaired. Although the Chantry and the Keep are visible from most of the city it is easy to get lost in the maze of dwarven courtyards and prowling groups of outlaws prey on those who travel through Lowtown without a reliable guide or map. Lowtown is perpetually smothered in black smoke billowing from the many foundries. When the air is cleared by cold winter storms the baleful howl of wind over the open mouths of abandoned shafts is hardly better. Outside of the Kirkwall the remnants of the oldest slave quarries still remain in the mountains, most abandoned and some haunted by spirits clinging to the memories of the torture inflicted on those enslaved long ago. Fundamentally then, Kirkwall still resembles its ancient self; greed drives the ragged and dispossessed scum of Thedas to its cursed shores and the unscrupulous consume them."Kirkwall". BioWare (UK version). 2011-01-23. Governance Kirkwall is governed by a Viscount since the Orleisian occupation of the city, as the title itself is Orleisian. It has never truly been free to determine its own course, and since the ousting of Perrin Threnhold the Templar Order holds considerable influence over his successor, Marlowe Dumar, and the city. If the ruling line of a Viscount dies out due to no living heirs, then the nobility of Kirkwall will gather to elect a new line from their ranks. Map Places Trivia *Kirkwall declared the common nug a noxious vermin in 5:20 Exalted over fears that the animals carried the Blight. The extermination became known as the Battle of Squealing Plains. It is not spoken of in polite company. *Kirkwall is the real world capital of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. * A few of Kirkwall's citizens have names corresponding to virtues or characteristics. Examples of this would be Lucky, Worthy and (Lady) Elegant. Gallery HawkeStatue.png|Statue of Hawke in the Docks, after becoming the Champion of Kirkwall Kirkwall concept art.jpg|Kirkwall concept art Kirkwall concept art 3.jpg Kirkwall concept art 4.jpg References Category:Cities Category:Dragon Age II locations